Water enters the boardroom

European paper and board converters are facing up to the fact that water security is now a primary concern.

At European Paper Week in Brussels last November Derk Kuiper, executive director of the independent Water Footprint Network (WFN), emphasised that the urgency to deal with the risk was already resulting in action at sector and corporate level.

“Frightening though it is to see the impact of water stress around the globe, it’s good we are aware of it,” he said.

The water theme shared top billing with carbon emissions and the impact of digital media on paper demand, at the three-day event run by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), attended by Converting Today.

Speakers talking about water were guaranteed a full house. Paper and board converters were thirsty for knowledge on how they can adapt working practices in light of the emerging realities of water resources under threat. The goals of a corporate water strategy must be better watershed management and building capabilities for water stewardship, according to Mr Kuiper.

The paper and board sector historically has faced difficult issues concerning natural resources head on, and for largely economic reasons has strived to control and reduce its overall needs. Combined heat and power (CHP) in mills is widespread and achieves a measure of self-sufficiency. A trace-back system for recycled paper is raising the quality of the product for conversion into new material, conserving virgin resources. Paper is the first material able to trace back a secondary raw material to its source, states the 2009 Sustainability Report launched at EPW.

Returning water used in paper making to nature uncontaminated is a way of life in mills. But now the focus will also be on the amount and source of water that is used.

By 2030 almost half of the world population will live in areas facing water stress, the United Nations has forecast. The Carbon Disclosure Project’s first audit of companies’ water use is due later this year. CDP warns that companies can expect water shortages to put stress on manufacturing processes and new regulations to increase water prices.

Converters should note that the first 300 companies selected to make their water use declarations must state how they intend to reduce current usage, both in house and in their supply chains. Investors will use CDP data to establish levels of additional risk that water issues impose on companies and sectors.

Marcus Norton, head of CDP Water Disclosure, went on to tell Converting Today that while environment experts have recognised the link between water and energy, ‘industrial consumers do not yet fully understand it’. The so-called energy-water nexus is the subject of study throughout Europe and the USA, and policies on these two key resources will inexorably converge in the future.

A Tesco spokesperson told Converting Today: “Our own business is relatively non-water intensive, but water usage is a bigger issue in our supply chain. It is a very complex area, and we are working with others to understand what we can do to help. Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is helping us understand our direct and indirect water footprint.”

Paper and board manufacturers and converters see investment in reducing environmental impact as necessary.

Iggesund Paperboard has spent €25 million on a new purification system at its Iggesunds Bruk mill. Chemical treatment, in addition to existing mechanical and biological systems, will ‘satisfy theenvironmental requirements that may be placed on us within the foreseeable future’, said mill manager Staffan Jonsson.

Swedish paperboard producer Korsnäs is currently building a more efficient evaporator plant costing SEK570 million (€55 million) at Gävle. From May 2010, it is expected to nearly halve oil use and associated carbon dioxide emissions, making it ‘an extremely important investment’, according to CEO Christer Simrén.

“Behaviour can change by basing decisions on sound information,” said Mr Kuiper. Moves to bring in water ‘trading’ could provide incentive to gain expertise from reliable sources and networks, he added.

It is anticipated that the water footprint will develop four times as fast as the carbon footprint. Marco Mensink, energy and environment director at CEPI, the first federation member of WFN, says that by registering in-coming and out-going water, including cooling water, ‘the industry is getting its water balance in order’.